Street Rod Book Reviews - Back To School

If you didn’t pick up books as a kid chances are good that you read the wrong stuff. I certainly didn’t think the highest of the things my teachers told me to read. But as an adult I discovered something they presumably didn’t want me to know: math, science, and history as they pertain to cars, are really quite fun.

For example, the Second Law of Thermodynamics may have left you cold but you’ll understand it and infinitely more complicated things, like how an air conditioning system works after professors Chisenhall and Davis explain it in How to Air Condition your Hot Rod. And forget about energizing a nail to make a magnet; Dennis Overholser’s Hot Rod Wiring reveals how to electrify an entire car.

Dad would’ve gotten something far more useful than a tie rack had your shop teacher used Joseph Potak’s GM LS-Series Engines: The Complete Swap Manual or Gerry Burger’s How to Build Period Correct Hot Rods as your textbook. If Joseph Cabadas taught history he would’ve used ’40 Ford: Evolution, Design, Racing, Hot Rodding to explain how the car came to pass three score and a dozen years ago. You would’ve also studied show-car history in Bob Larivee’s Show Car Dreams: The Art and Color of Sixty Years of Indoor Custom Car and Hot Rod Shows.

Even I would’ve taken art classes if Pat Ganahl’s Ed “Big Daddy” Roth: His Life, Times, Cars, and Art were considered one of the field guides to the masters. Courtesy of our longtime pal LeRoi “Tex” Smith, we have a piece of fictional literature in 1320: Maybe Not What You Think.

So if you didn’t take to reading when you were a kid, here’s your second chance. Every one of these titles is extremely entertaining. And if you’re not careful, you may actually learn a thing or two.

How To Air Condition Your Hot Rod

1/16

Not all that long ago, only highly trained professionals could install or service an automotive air conditioning system. We in the publishing field would like to think we changed that but we’re the first to admit that it wouldn’t have been possible without the contributions of industry experts. And among those, we’re pretty confident that Jack Chisenhall, whether directly or through his company, Vintage Air, and its employees, contributed most profoundly.

Chisenhall outdid himself recently. He teamed up with engineer Norman Davis to publish what may qualify as the definitive book about aftermarket air conditioning. How To Air Condition your Hot Rod covers everything necessary to design and install a new climate-control system or improve, retrofit, or repair an existing one.

This is more than simply a compendium of magazine articles. Chisenhall and Davis approach the subject academically, beginning with a brief history of air conditioning that leads to a plain-English description of how refrigeration works. The authors relate the physics of heat transfer in nine ways: Heat, cold, heat transfer, conduction, convection, radiation, changing states of matter, latent heat, and pressure’s effect on vaporization. These concepts, dubbed “Cool Science,” offer great insight to the how and why of refrigeration. In fact, when combined with the simple schematics interspersed along Chapter 1, it’s almost difficult to justify the notion that air conditioning is so misunderstood.

The second chapter exists exclusively to explain how legislation advanced, not beset, air-conditioning technology. But more than sell the idea of responsible use, it reveals the potential issues that threaten to compromise an install or retrofit. This chapter alone makes the book a must-have for anyone with an existing system for it may just answer questions one never would’ve thought to ask about system performance.

Chapters 3 (components), 4 (planning), and 5 (installation) go hand-in-hand for reasons that are obvious and, frankly, not-so obvious (ergonomics, for example). The planning chapter in particular gives would-be installers insight as to how to build a car not merely around a climate-control system as much as with it in mind.

The information offered in Chapter 6 would go largely overlooked, as most people tend to consider insulation and cabin sealing a separate subject from a climate system. However, just as with acceleration, a reduction in burden (whether weight or unintentional heat gain) is the same as an increase in performance (whether horsepower or Btu)—it doesn’t pay to waste power, whether on leaky seals or excessive weight. Here it’s considered part of an entire system as are the electrical components in Chapter 7. As noted, this is a comprehensive title.

2/16

Chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11 round out the theory with implementation; in this case installations in a tight street rod, a midsized muscle car, a full-sized cruiser, and a pickup. While each installation presents unique challenges, many of the tips dispensed along these seemingly diverse chapters are universal.

I don’t take personal endorsements lightly; it takes something special—a unique perspective, shrewd insight, novel information among other things—to make me put my reputation behind something. This is certainly one of those examples; this book is a must-have. And while it stands to reason this book was intended for those wanting to install or maintain their own systems, I maintain that it’s every bit as critical for those who intend to let someone else do the work. An educated consumer is a powerful one and the information provided in this book will give enthusiasts the ability to not just find a capable and honest installer but make the installation that much better. This book brings decades of preparation and detail to bear on the subject.

How to Air Condition Your Hot Rod

Jack L. Chisenhall and Norman Davis

Wolfgang Publications Inc.

ISBN 978-1-929133-44-4

Hot Rod Wiring: A Detailed How-To Guide

3/16

I consider myself pretty proficient with automotive electrical systems but when I saw the first edition of Hot Rod Wiring in the late ’90s I overlooked my pride and bought it. I regard it one of the smarter things I’ve done. It was largely the work of Painless Performance’s Dennis Overholser and it explained, in very plain language and in rather great detail, the essentials of automotive electrical systems.

As with any solid tutorial, it established a platform based on just how electricity worked. Then it built upon that platform in logical steps, explaining the functions of the various components commonly used in automotive electrical systems. It bridged the gaps in my knowledge and I refer to it to this day.

But I will no longer refer to my dog-eared first edition of Hot Rod Wiring. And for good reason: There’s a new edition of it.

Though the latest Hot Rod Wiring can trace its roots to my old copy, the differences are substantial enough to call it more of a new book than a later edition. For the most part both books follow the same basic layout (Electricity 101; Batteries, Starters, and Alternators; Switches; Instruments; and Accessory Wiring). And within these chapters Overholser and the Painless crew reveal a lot, from what a system needs, how to lay one out, how to properly attach terminals, and so on. Having worked with Overholser on several installations I can vouch that it’s a lot like having him look over your shoulder and dispense tips.

The diagrams for the various manufacturers’ charging systems is reason enough to buy this book, for it’s borderline impossible to make sense of OEM wiring and almost as hard to find a readable diagram online. I guarantee that you’ll find at least one trick or tip that will justify your investment.

4/16

The new book retains the fuel-injection chapter but expresses it in a different way. A general overview remains but included in the chapter are the wiring harnesses Painless was developing in the ’90s. So what follows the general overview isn’t instructions on how to combine existing OEM parts to adapt a system but how to use Painless’ specific-fit harnesses and ECU systems. Also included this time are two installations: one a universal wiring kit in a ’39 Ford and another a specific-fit kit in a ’72 GM pickup.

And if you needed something to push you over the edge, consider that this is one of the very few titles I’ve read in some time that’s printed and bound in the United States. It is, without a doubt, a quality piece from concept to print and would serve anyone interested in installing, servicing, or modifying a wiring system very well.

Hot Rod Wiring: A Detailed How-To Guide

Dennis Overholser

Wolfgang Publications

ISBN 978-1-929133-98-7

Ed “Big Daddy” Roth: His Life, Times, Cars, and Art

5/16

It’s hard to believe that Ed Roth departed more than a decade ago. It isn’t hard to believe, however, that we’re still hearing new stories about the guy. But that’s exactly what Pat Ganahl did in Ed “Big Daddy” Roth: His Life, Times, Cars, and Art.

If you don’t know Roth’s story, here it is in a nutshell: he was nuts, a bona fide wild-man deluxe hell bent on freaking out squares. At least that’s the way he’s been presented over the years in various other titles. And for the most part it’s true, at least on the surface. But what makes Ganahl’s account so pertinent, so salient after all these years, is the story behind the kandy-kolored tangerine flake streamline facade.

Rather than borderline insane, Roth was, by Ganahl’s account, an intensely gracious, soft-spoken, thoughtful, meticulous person—basically the inverse of all the traits used to describe him. But that’s the genius of this book. Just as Roth took seemingly disparate things—industrial design, pop culture, and art were his favorites—and blurred the lines among them, Ganahl established the linkages between Roth’s outlandish life and his rather ordinary updraggings.

Most biographers address a few of Roth’s early life but none so much as Ganahl does. This book is the culmination of several decades’ worth of research that explains rather than merely references Roth’s entire life. These are the stories from the people who knew him best, his family, his closest friends, and his former employees—some of which were all three.

6/16

Through these stories Ganahl makes the case that Roth, the son of German immigrants, made something from nothing more than a great deal of pluck. His pinstriping, for example, was a means to make some scratch on the side. He turned the idle time spent in the military as a means to make yet more money cutting hair, of all things. It’s this resourcefulness that explain his great accomplishments. He basically created a great deal of the fortunate circumstances that defined his successes.

What emerges is a very dynamic portrait of an even more dynamic man. For years the case was made that Roth was a crazy genius with most of the emphasis on the nutty part. But it’s only when balanced with Roth’s intelligent, rather calculated, and somewhat sensible side that we realize that he deserves far more credit than he’s been afforded.

Ed “Big Daddy” Roth: His Life, Times, Cars, and Art

Pat Ganahl

CarTech

ISBN 978-1-934709-67-2

’40 Ford: Evolution, Design, Racing, Hot Rodding

7/16

In recent history it seems that any car not born a ’32 Ford got second-rate status. Specifically come the model’s Diamond Jubilee in 2007 one couldn’t swing a dead cat for fear of hitting a book written about the car or an event commemorating it.

But as all bubbles go the one about the Deuce had to burst. And since it has, we’re beneficiaries of some pretty interesting publications, the best with which I’ve crossed paths recently being Joseph P. Cabadas’ ’40 Ford: Evolution, Design, Racing, Hot Rodding. As the cover implies it’s everything ’40 Ford; however, the 160 or so pages therein tell a slightly different story. In fact, one could call the title a bit misleading; the book isn’t entirely about ’40 Fords. In fact he doesn’t get ’40 specific until page 78, two pages shy of the book’s halfway point.

But we’re not complaining. Unless they’re academic like the books that the Early V-8 Ford Club publishes or very specific like the one about the 75 most significant ’32 Ford hot rods, titles for individual years, makes, and models can be quite tedious. What Cabadas has done here, though, is explain the ’40 (and by extension ’39) Ford vis-à-vis the cars and times that inspired it.

8/16

So rather than a book specifically about ’40 Fords this is a book about cars from the Model A era to the ’40. Note cars, not Fords. Typical for any manufacturer, Ford had its finger on the pulse of the industry and not just on its own products. And by way of describing the impact these other cars made, Cabadas justifies some of the distinguishing features of what many consider to be Ford’s most refined and stylish prewar car.

What emerges is a broad story about automotive design that’s every bit as interesting as the book’s subject. Cabadas did the book in cooperation with The Henry Ford Museum, a collaboration that reveals itself in numerous historical Ford archive photos.

Among other things the author explores Ford’s presence in European markets, models that suggest that the maker was far more dynamic than its domestic market indicates. Included are the labor strikes that steered Ford. You’d have to buy a lot of Lorin Sorenson’s books to see so many archival, marketing, and promotional photos and advertising literature. Oh, and the racing part is more diverse than simply the ’40s straight-line exploits. Cabadas broaches the performance chapter by building upon Henry Ford’s racing exploits, using it as a sort of springboard into the various forms of motorsports, including rally, round-track, and of course, lakes and drag racing.

So is there a lot of information specific to the ’40? Sure there is. And that alone makes it worth buying. But it’s all the other stuff—the stories about the company’s evolution, the people who made the ’40 so distinctive, and the foreign stuff that you’ve probably never known before that makes this book such a find.

’40 Ford: Evolution, Design, Racing, Hot Rodding

Joseph P. Cabadas

Motorbooks

ISBN 978-0-7603-3761-5

GM LS-Series Engines: The Complete Swap Manual

9/16

In hindsight, the fears enthusiasts initially regarded GM’s LS-series engine with seem a bit quaint, if not silly. But not even the most devoted die-hard Bow Tie fan could’ve anticipated the success that Chevrolet’s latest generation of small-block engines enjoyed. And just as its ancestors did half a century earlier, the LS-series engine found a home in just about any car that could accommodate it … not to mention a few that couldn’t.

But things have changed since the first Chevy engine swap. Though the bellhousing pattern remains the same, the rest of the playing field has changed. Gone are the largely universal pumps, carburetors, and ignition systems of yore, in their place complex and highly specialized engine management systems. In fact, some say it takes a book just to make an LS run in places where it wasn’t intended to.

But we have one thing our ancestors only dreamed of to facilitate swaps: books. The latest, Joseph Potak’s GM LS-Series Engines: The Complete Swap Manual, promises to take the mystery out of swapping, building, and tuning the LS engine series.

Potak dedicates the first chapter almost exclusively to LS history, and in telling that history he reveals the many subtle changes among the engines and their accessories. In refreshingly objective terms he explores the various means by which enthusiasts obtain the parts for their swaps (new or used, piecemeal or donor car, etc.).

From there he explores the numerous obstacles and their remedies: engine mounting, management, fuel delivery, induction and exhaust, accessories and cooling, and so on. And in doing so he reveals nearly countless tips and tricks that an enthusiast could only dream of learning in a dozen swaps, much less one. Certainly most valuable are the combinations of parts that can configure these engines to surmount nearly any obstacle, many of which can be achieved by digging through GM’s parts pile. To simply keep track of the intake and exhaust manifolds, throttle bodies, sensor, and ECU pairings, much less internal combinations boggles the mind. But this book has them, largely from the author’s inside track with numerous builders, both professional and hobbyists alike. It’s a consequence of Potak’s passion and skills: he’s an ASE-certified master technician.

10/16

Though some practiced builders earn a certain facility in doing them, not even in the best-case scenario are engine swaps cakewalks. The simplest ones require considerable preparation, knowledge, and fabrication skills. And by contrast even the simplest LS-series engine is vastly more complex than a “dumb” carbureted engine. But in a nutshell Potak’s Swap Manual is like having a friend who knows the ropes—a friend with significant formal training. I’d consider this an indispensable tool for an LS engine swap, one that will easily pay for itself with the first parts score.

GM LS-Series Engines: The Complete Swap Manual

Joseph Potak

Motorbooks

ISBN 978-0-7603-3609-0

1320: Maybe Not What You Think

11/16

They say everyone has a novel inside them. This much is for sure: our pal LeRoi “Tex” Smith sure does. He wrote 1320: Maybe Not What You Think. It’s a fictional account of Zane Calder, a hot rodder and former racer who, while on a cross-country trek in a hopped-up ’57 Thunderbird, inadvertently finds a new life in a sleepy Nebraska town.

If you’re a long-time enthusiast you know Smith’s name by his byline in any one of dozens of publications: STREET RODDER, Hot Rod, Rod & Custom, Car Craft, Popular Hot Rodding, and his own Hot Rod Mechanix, just to name a few. He helped establish institutions: under his tutelage Tom McMullen created Street Chopper, a magazine that facilitated the creation of this very publication. He wrote We Came in Peace, an account of the moon landing, and he co-founded L.A. Roadsters, which of course needs no description.

As Smith describes in his introduction, the characters are aggregates of the many people he’s encountered in his travels. It’s as much homage to Smith’s near innumerable friends and family, a theory substantiated by Smith’s naming protocol: he assigns the characters names from his real life, so the book is a little bit of an autobiography. While I’d consider him a friend and know many of his accomplishments through common friends, I by no means know his whole story; however, I recognize the references. Among other things he refers to the protagonist as King, a thinly veiled reference to himself (LeRoi is “The King” in French, after all). Reading between the lines, he uses the book in one part to reveal the various chapters in his life and in another part to either work through or explain real personal issues.

Also by admission, the book is a sort of plea to inspire subsequent generations to join the hot rod ranks (several of the characters that the book’s protagonist guides are teens, in fact). It goes without saying that the book deals extensively with automotive subjects, specifically about the protagonist’s personal car (the Bird) and a former race car belonging to the town’s garage keeper. In the course of the book he references automotive terms—specifically hot rod, street rod, and racing—heavily.

According to Smith, 1320 is the first in a series of books, each addressing another facet of the hot rod hobby (according to the proposed title, the next book, The Long Black Line, ostensibly explores land speed racing). It’s a literary tradition pioneered by youth author Henry Gregor Felsen, who used popular themes as a literary device to draw in and subsequently direct kids. But I know enough about Smith to understand that he sees us all—himself included—as kids at heart. At the very least 1320 will take you back to a time when we were all just a little more kid-like.

1320: Maybe Not What You Think

LeRoi “Tex” Smith

Tex Smith Books

ISBN 978-1-878772-21-3

How to Build Period Correct Hot Rods: Select the Correct Components for a Faithful Vintage Hot Rod

12/16

Sometimes moving forward requires taking a big step back. It certainly felt that way in the late ’90s: the high-buck build prevailed, making it ever harder for average enthusiasts to make a car stand out from the crowd. So rather than fight many switched, and the backlash inspired probably one of the strongest movements of recent history: nostalgia.

It was only a matter of time that someone wrote a proper book that explains just why certain parts matter or how to use them in a way that looks convincing. Of course it took at least a decade for someone to do so but long-time editorial contributor Gerry Burger filled that yawning void with the aptly titled How to Build Period Correct Hot Rods: Select the Correct Components for a Faithful Vintage Hot Rod.

To be fair Burger’s book isn’t the first retrospective-themed how-to title. Mike Bishop and Vern Tardel’s How to Build a Traditional Ford Hot Rod owns that distinction. But Burger’s book is decidedly different, specifically in its breadth. Whereas Bishop and Tardel reveal piece by piece the way to build a Flathead-powered Model A roadster to reflect late-’40s/early-’50s practice, Burger explains the philosophy behind building just about any car to reflect just about any era.

In a nutshell Burger broaches the idea that an inspiring car isn’t so much a pile of old parts but a group of parts—not always old in some cases—matched to capture the look and feel of a particular era. He conditions readers to think about how a car’s parts help it fit into a particular space in time. He also reveals a few proven ways to combine old parts, not all of which have been done to death.

13/16

Burger dedicates six of the book’s nine chapters to general subjects like power, rolling stock, chassis, interior, body, and paint. He divides each one of those chapters into multiple subsets. For example, he reveals the history of a dozen popular engines and in doing so sort of establishes the reason why one would make a particular selection. He treats each component similarly, defining its place and significance in hot rod culture, and no stone goes unturned. In the paint chapter, for example, he makes the observation that paint composition and pigmentation may not seamlessly merge with an intended era.

What emerges is a sort of template of logical choices—or more specifically, a sort of sieve that filters out bad combinations like flake-painted, Flathead-powered, ’50s cars with fender skirts and whitewall tires mounted on Ansen Sprints (our apologies if we just described your car). Burger urges builders to not only pay attention to the details but how to match them to achieve a certain objective. The type of patience (it’s tedious to build a car to adequately reflect any style) and restraint (it’s equally easy to overdo anything) Burger emphasizes is reason enough to consider this book.

At first I was inclined to say that most seasoned enthusiasts and professional builders are beyond the scope of this book. But I’ve seen what often passes as traditional or period correct and in light of that I wholeheartedly recommend it, especially to those who’ve convinced themselves that they know it all.

How to Build Period Correct Hot Rods; Select the Correct Components for a Faithful Vintage Hot Rod

Gerry Burger

CarTech

ISBN 978-1-934709-32-0

Show Car Dreams: The Art and Color of Sixty Years of Indoor Custom Car and Hot Rod Shows

14/16

Every so often a title comes along and knocks our socks off. But we’ve never laid eyes on anything the likes of Show Car Dreams: The Art and Color of Sixty Years of Indoor Custom Car and Hot Rod Shows. It is, hands down, the most definitive thing ever published about indoor car shows.

For the most part the title is reminiscent of Bob Larivee Sr., consummate promoter and founder of the International Show Car Association (ISCA) and Championship Auto Shows Inc., the current-day promoter of numerous events, including the esteemed Detroit Autorama. These are the stories about the near countless people, cars, and events that earned both organizations some of the most esteemed positions and some of the greatest successes in the hot rod and custom car world.

By way of contributions from writers and historians, the likes of Greg Sharp, David Fetherston, and Bill Moeller, this two-book set captures the contributions of both organizations over the years. And the stories are incredibly revealing in both their depth and breadth. It’s a given that such a book would showcase the main attraction of any car show—the vehicles—but what makes the title so captivating are the stories about the dozens of people behind the scenes. Larivee champions the judges, the promotion staff, the club members, and other contributors who made history by showcasing other people’s creative expressions.

The title is available in three configurations. The Limited Edition has the anchor of sorts, a 300-page, 600-plus photo book that tells the general story of indoor car shows. Its 28 chapters showcase the various stages in show car trends, including the many varied classes. Woven in with the stories about the van craze and celebrities are the stories about the numerous people who made the events possible: the judges, administration staff, and event promoters. It includes a velvet-lined black wooden case.

15/16

The Special Edition includes everything from the Limited plus the buyer’s choice of an additional chapter about a specific event. The shows available at the time of this press include the Grand National Roadster Show, the Detroit Autorama, and 10 more regional events across the United States and Canada. The Master Edition includes the main book plus a second, 200-page book about all of the optional shows from the Special Edition. It too comes in its own velvet-lined wooden case.

By dint of Larivee’s own productions and the car show industry’s nearly universal adherence to ISCA standards, the book covers an incredibly broad spectrum of events—so much so, in fact that the events themselves warrant a nearly 200-page book of their own. This is so much more comprehensive than an elaborate account of some regional shows; this is truly a history of pretty much every major indoor hot rod and custom-car event. These are the stories about the T-shirt painters, the monster truck exhibitions, and the celebrity appearances. If it happened at an indoor car show, chances are there’s a photo of it in here.

Make no mistake, Show Car Dreams is not an inexpensive set. The Limited Edition weighs in at $250 and the Master doubles that figure. But it isn’t without warrant. The sets owe their cost to several things: its incredible size (coffee table format and just shy of 500 pages for the Master set), impressive quality (beautifully bound card-stock pages presented in a wooden box), intense personal investment (more than 800 photos and enough research to make a seasoned historian shudder in the Master), and exclusivity (only 1,500 sets will be made). In fact, the first 300 sets include a VIP book signing at either the Grand National Roadster Show or the Detroit Autorama, a poster-sized lithograph of Don Ridler Memorial Award winners, a selection of available issue numbers, and free shipping. At the same time it reflects show-car practice: it’s big, beautiful, and entirely fascinating.

16/16

Show Car Dreams: The Art and Color of Sixty Years of Indoor Custom Car and Hot Rod Shows